Dennis Gates... He's my pick.

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die hard gopher said:
Smith and Medved both have much more complete resumes and are much more sure things.

Gates in two years would potentially be a good candidate and he has shown some promise so far but other coaches just have better resumes at this point.
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If this dude is still doing well at Cleveland St. or somewhere else in 2 years, get back to me. We rolled the dice on Pitino with 1 year of experience and that didn't fare too well. We rolled the dice on Whalen with zero experience, and while I still like the move, it has been a slow, slow crawl to establish that program. If we were a MAC or MW team, I'd be all over him as a candidate. Not at a B1G school, however.
 

Cleveland State1965–664-14(N/A)--Jim Rodriguez
Cleveland State1966–678-13(N/A)--John McLendon
Cleveland State1967–687-15(N/A)--John McLendon
Cleveland State1968–6912-14(N/A)--John McLendon
Cleveland State1969–705-21(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1970–715-20(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1971–728-18(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1972–739-14(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1973–746-20(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1974–7513-11(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1975–766-19(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1976–7710-17(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1977–7812-13(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1978–7915-10(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1979–8017-9(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1980–8118-9(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1981–8217-10(N/A)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1982–838-20(1-4)--Ray Dieringer
Cleveland State1983–8414-16(4-10)--Kevin Mackey
Cleveland State1984–8521-8(11-3)--Kevin Mackey
Cleveland State1985–8629-4(13-1)NCAA, Sweet SixteenKevin Mackey
Cleveland State1986–8725-8(10-4)NIT, Second RoundKevin Mackey
Cleveland State1987–8822-8(11-3)NIT, Second RoundKevin Mackey
Cleveland State1988–8916-12(N/A)--Kevin Mackey
Cleveland State1989–9015-13(N/A)--Kevin Mackey
Cleveland State1990–9112-16(8-8)--Mike Boyd
Cleveland State1991–9216-13(7-9)--Mike Boyd
Cleveland State1992–9322-6(15-1)--Mike Boyd
Cleveland State1993–9414-15(9-9)--Mike Boyd
Cleveland State1994–9510-17(3-11)--Mike Boyd
Cleveland State1995–965-21(3-13)--Mike Boyd
Cleveland State1996–979-19(6-10)--Rollie Massimino
Cleveland State1997–9812-15(6-8)--Rollie Massimino
Cleveland State1998–9914-14(6-8)--Rollie Massimino
Cleveland State1999–0016-14(9-5)--Rollie Massimino
Cleveland State2000–0119-13(9-5)--Rollie Massimino
Cleveland State2001–0212-16(6-10)--Rollie Massimino
Cleveland State2002–038-22(3-13)--Rollie Massimino
Cleveland State2003–044-25(0-16)--Mike Garland
Cleveland State2004–059-17(6-10)--Mike Garland
Cleveland State2005–0610-18(5-11)--Mike Garland
Cleveland State2006–0710-21(3-13)--Gary Waters
Cleveland State2007–0821-13(12-6)NIT, First RoundGary Waters
Cleveland State2008–0926-11(12-6)NCAA, Second RoundGary Waters
Cleveland State2009–1016-17(10-8)--Gary Waters
Cleveland State2010–1127-9(13-5)NIT, Second RoundGary Waters
Cleveland State2011–1222-11(12-6)NIT, First RoundGary Waters
Cleveland State2012–1314-18(5-11)--Gary Waters
Cleveland State2013–1421–12(12–4)CIT, First RoundGary Waters
Cleveland State2014–1519–15(11–5)CIT, Second RoundGary Waters
Cleveland State2015–169–23(4–14)--Gary Waters
Cleveland State2016–179–22(5–13)--Gary Waters
Cleveland State2017–1812–23(6-12)--Dennis Felton
Cleveland State2018–1910–21(5–13)--Dennis Felton
Cleveland State2019–2011–21(7–11)--Dennis Gates
Cleveland State2020–2117–7(16-4)--Dennis Gates
 

WriterGoph said:
www.google.com

Cleveland State Basketball: New coach Dennis Gates facing a huge job -- Terry Pluto

Former Florida State assistant coach Dennis Gates takes over a program with few players, lots of losses and little fan support. What can he do?
www.google.com www.google.com
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One coach said Gates has an advantage not available to Waters.

“There is no Butler or Valpo in the Horizon League anymore,” he said. “What is the best program? Wright State? Northern Kentucky? They are pretty good, but we’re not talking about a mid-major powerhouse.”

Butler is now in the Big East. Valparaiso is in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“It will take a few years and a couple of good recruiting classes, but I don’t think CSU is that far away from being a contender in the Horizon,” the coach said. “The league is not that strong anymore.”


Loyola-Chicago was also plucked from the Horizon to the Missouri Valley.
 

The middle column is conference record. For those wondering about Cleveland States historical bball record.

It's interesting that there are so many videos of him as an assistant coach. I don't remember the last time I've seen that.

I know PJ had videos, but he was already a coach.
 


forever a gopher said:
If this dude is still doing well at Cleveland St. or somewhere else in 2 years, get back to me. We rolled the dice on Pitino with 1 year of experience and that didn't fare too well. We rolled the dice on Whalen with zero experience, and while I still like the move, it has been a slow, slow crawl to establish that program. If we were a MAC or MW team, I'd be all over him as a candidate. Not at a B1G school, however.
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Agreed.
 

forever a gopher said:
If this dude is still doing well at Cleveland St. or somewhere else in 2 years, get back to me. We rolled the dice on Pitino with 1 year of experience and that didn't fare too well. We rolled the dice on Whalen with zero experience, and while I still like the move, it has been a slow, slow crawl to establish that program. If we were a MAC or MW team, I'd be all over him as a candidate. Not at a B1G school, however.
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(y) (y)
 

Eric Musselman would be my number one choice but I doubt any chance.

I would take Gates in a heartbeat. To get a great coach the Gophers will have to take a chance. The bad news, If he's as good as we hope he, will only be around long enough to prove it anyway then he'll get hired away..
 

The Gophers just spent 8 years with a coach whose resume is pretty close to Gates’s resume maybe other than the recruiting aspect.

I would completely surprised if Gates was given this job. If he does get it probably means some others with better resumes turned down the job.
 



forever a gopher said:
If this dude is still doing well at Cleveland St. or somewhere else in 2 years, get back to me. We rolled the dice on Pitino with 1 year of experience and that didn't fare too well. We rolled the dice on Whalen with zero experience, and while I still like the move, it has been a slow, slow crawl to establish that program. If we were a MAC or MW team, I'd be all over him as a candidate. Not at a B1G school, however.
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Completely different situation than Pitino if you ask me:

- Gates is 41, Pitino was 30
- Gates has 16 years of experience as an asst, Pitino had half that at best
- Gates has already had high-level recruiting success, Pitino did not
- Gates was a successful P5 D1 player
- Gates has an inspiring story of his upbringing and success he built out of a tough situation in inner city Chicago that is MUCH more relatable for players/recruits
 

scools12 said:
The Gophers just spent 8 years with a coach whose resume is pretty close to Gates’s resume maybe other than the recruiting aspect.

I would completely surprised if Gates was given this job. If he does get it probably means some others with better resumes turned down the job.
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I can see this being the only scenario where Gates is the coach.

Like other posters mentioned, we tried the "minimal coaching experience" already and failed. I don't see Coyle going down that route again.
 

WriterGoph said:
Completely different situation than Pitino if you ask me:

- Gates is 41, Pitino was 30
- Gates has 16 years of experience as an asst, Pitino had half that at best
- Gates has already had high-level recruiting success, Pitino did not
- Gates was a successful P5 D1 player
- Gates has an inspiring story of his upbringing and success he built out of a tough situation in inner city Chicago that is MUCH more relatable for players/recruits
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Good points.

I can't get past only being a HC for two years, though. Not when we have so many other good candidates with longer HC resumes.

I will not be surprised if Gates does great things.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
I can see this being the only scenario where Gates is the coach.

Like other posters mentioned, we tried the "minimal coaching experience" already and failed. I don't see Coyle going down that route again.
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Other than 2 years as a HC, it's not even in the same atmosphere as the Pitino situation. Trust that Coyle is well aware and able to differentiate between the two.
 



MplsGopher said:
Good points.

I can't get past only being a HC for two years, though. Not when we have so many other good candidates with longer HC resumes.

I will not be surprised if Gates does great things.
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If Coyle values many multiple years as a HC in multiple lower conferences, then he won't go with Gates. I just think he is a bigger picture guy than that.
 

WriterGoph said:
If Coyle values many multiple years as a HC in multiple lower conferences, then he won't go with Gates. I just think he is a bigger picture guy than that.
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A big part of being a leader of a large organization is managing the risk of your decisions.

I don't question your passion or your gut feel. It would just be (unnecessarily IMO) risky.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
He has a sub .500 winning percentage. That isn’t winning
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That's a pretty ridiculous comment to say after less than two years when his first year, like for many coaches, was a rebuilding year. Here are a few other coaches who had sub-.500 records after two years in their programs:

PJ Fleck
Kirk Ferentz
Scott Drew (he probably had an overall sub-.500 record at Baylor through 5 years)
Fran McCaffrey
Mike Krzyzewski
 

WriterGoph said:
Other than 2 years as a HC, it's not even in the same atmosphere as the Pitino situation. Trust that Coyle is well aware and able to differentiate between the two.
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I agree, but I would argue every coaching candidate has their own unique set of experiences/qualifications.

If anything, one could argue that what Pitino did at FIU, is more impressive than what Gates has done at Cleveland State.

Cleveland State last winning season prior to 2020-2021 was 2014-2015.

FIU: Pitinos winning season came in 2012-2013
FIU: Previous winning season: 1999-2000

So RP took a team who had over a decade of losing and in his only season made them a winner.
 


WriterGoph said:
Completely different situation than Pitino if you ask me:

- Gates is 41, Pitino was 30
- Gates has 16 years of experience as an asst, Pitino had half that at best
- Gates has already had high-level recruiting success, Pitino did not
- Gates was a successful P5 D1 player
- Gates has an inspiring story of his upbringing and success he built out of a tough situation in inner city Chicago that is MUCH more relatable for players/recruits
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I don't disagree. As far as candidates go, Gates is way past Pitino. But comparing anybody to Pitino with his prior resume isn't what we should be doing, as Pitino should have never gotten the job in the first place. The bottom two points do nothing for me, as you could say that about hundreds to thousands of D1 basketball players every year. The years as a successful recruiter and assistant are much more appealing, however. To me, there just isn't enough of a track record as HC. But I'm not making the call, so it's all moot.
 

Why are you all so desperate for Minnesota to be his proving ground??

Why should our program be the one that takes on that risk? Why not Boston College?
 

cjbfbp said:
That's a pretty ridiculous comment to say after less than two years when his first year, like for many coaches, was a rebuilding year. Here are a few other coaches who had sub-.500 records after two years in their programs:

PJ Fleck
Kirk Ferentz
Scott Drew (he probably had an overall sub-.500 record at Baylor through 5 years)
Fran McCaffrey
Mike Krzyzewski
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If the U had hired PJ after his 2nd year. I'm sure the entire state and this board would have been sooooo happy.
 

SanDiegoGopherFan said:
I agree, but I would argue every coaching candidate has their own unique set of experiences/qualifications.

If anything, one could argue that what Pitino did at FIU, is more impressive than what Gates has done at Cleveland State.

Cleveland State last winning season prior to 2020-2021 was 2014-2015.

FIU: Pitinos winning season came in 2012-2013
FIU: Previous winning season: 1999-2000

So RP took a team who had over a decade of losing and in his only season made them winner.
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But step away from the HC seasons and look at the path and experiences that led them there and that shaped them.
forever a gopher said:
I don't disagree. As far as candidates go, Gates is way past Pitino. But comparing anybody to Pitino with his prior resume isn't what we should be doing, as Pitino should have never gotten the job in the first place. The bottom two points do nothing for me, as you could say that about thousands of D1 basketball players every year. The years as a successful recruiter and assistant are much more appealing, however. To me, there just isn't enough of a track record as HC. But I'm not making the call, so it's all moot.
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How can the last two points do nothing?

Being able relate to and identify with the guys you're recruiting is huge in the college game. This is one of the main reasons PJ is successful.
 

MplsGopher said:
Why are you all so desperate for Minnesota to be his proving ground??

Why should our program be the one that takes on that risk? Why not Boston College?
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I'm with you.

It doesn't make sense to me to make such a risky move in back to back hires.
 


WriterGoph said:
Being able relate to and identify with the guys you're recruiting is huge in the college game. This is one of the main reasons PJ is successful.
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Pitino is reasonable successful in recruiting, isn't he?

We all agree he hit a homerun with the transfers this past offseason, right? How did that work out this year?
 


WriterGoph said:
Um yeah, he led Western Michigan to a 13-0 season and NY6 bowl game. He led the Gophers to our most successful season in 50+ years. I think its fair to call that success.
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DOH! Dude, you switched it up on me and my brain didn't catch on.

I read Pitino. Sorry, will correct the post.
 

Pitino was shaped by some of the best HC in the country. He lived and breathed college basketball since he was a kid.

If you're asking about having a tougher road getting to being a HC, yes, I'm with you 100%.

then you can get into the conversation of minority candidates and what their story was that lead them to being successful.

I get that. I also appreciate that.

This is actually something i was thinking about last night.

One of our goals is to get more of the top local talent to stay. Most of the top talent here lately is not from the inner city, I was wondering if Gates background would be something local recruits can relate too. Yes, now we are getting in white vs minority recruits (bc black, asian, hispanic, all the colors)

Now that's a whole different conversation of course, but it's part of his appeal as a coach to a player in order to relate. And one of his constant messages on his video is his ability to "relate" to his players.[/QUOTE]
 

WriterGoph said:
But step away from the HC seasons and look at the path and experiences that led them there and that shaped them.


How can the last two points do nothing?

Being able relate to and identify with the guys you're recruiting is huge in the college game. This is one of the main reasons PJ is successful.
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Maybe. I think PJ is successful because he is overly driven to succeed at everything he does. Like I said, your last two points could be said about probably a thousand kids that are currently playing D1 basketball. That doesn't make them HC candidates. If two coaches are equal, and one played at a high level, and one didn't, I'm taking the guy who played every day of the week. However, I'm not using that as a main reason to hire him, but more of a tiebreaker.

You appear to be very passionate about this dude. I'm not crapping on "your" dude. Just saying for me, I'm not willing to roll the dice when there are candidates who have a much longer track record of success.
 

In the end, whoever gets hired, I'm confident we will have some unhappy people, but even those who are unhappy will hope for the best.

I guess what I am saying is 99% of the people on this board will support whoever the new coach is and wish him/her the best
 

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